Control of zinc-thionein synthesis in rat liver.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Squibb KS
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1164777 | biostudies-other | 1977 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Similar Datasets
Project description:The ability of rat liver zinc-thionein to donate its metal to the apo-enzymes of the zinc enzymes horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase, yeast aldolase, thermolysin, Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase and bovine erythrocyte carbonic anhydrase was investigated. Zinc-thionein was as good as, or better than, ZnSO(4), Zn(CH(3)CO(2))(2) or Zn(NO(3))(2) in donating its zinc to these apo-enzymes. Apo-(alcohol dehydrogenase) could not be reactivated by zinc salts or by zinc-thionein. Incubation of the other apo-enzymes with near-saturating amounts of zinc as ZnSO(4), Zn(CH(3)CO(2))(2), Zn(NO(3))(2), or zinc-thionein resulted in reactivation of the apo-enzymes. With apo-aldolase zinc-thionein gave 100% reactivation within 30min. Reactivation by ZnSO(4) and Zn(CH(3)CO(2))(2) was complete and instantaneous. Zinc-thionein was somewhat better than Zn(NO(3))(2) in completely reactivating apo-thermolysin. With apo-(alkaline phosphatase) 43% reactivation was obtained with Zn(CH(3)CO(2))(2) and 18% with zinc-thionein. With apo-(carbonic anhydrase) zinc-thionein was better than ZnSO(4), Zn(CH(3)CO(2))(2) or Zn(NO(3))(2), with a maximal reactivation of 54%. That zinc was really being transferred from zinc-thionein to apo-(carbonic anhydrase) was shown by the fact that 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acid and 1,10-phenanthroline had minimal effects on the reactivation of apo-(carbonic anhydrase) when added after the incubation {[apo-(carbonic anhydrase)+zinc thionein]+chelator}, but inhibited reactivation when added before the incubation {apo-(carbonic anhydrase)+[zinc-thionein+chelator]}. These observations support the idea that zinc-thionein can function in zinc homeostasis as a reservoir of zinc, releasing the metal to zinc-requiring metalloenzymes according to need.
| S-EPMC1161797 | biostudies-other
Project description:A low-molecular-weight protein, zinc-thionein, a metallothionein, was implicated as having a regulatory function in zinc metabolism. The half-life (t 1/2) of hepatic zinc-thionein was determined by pulse-labelling with either L-[35S] cystine and/or 65Zn. In two experiments with L-[35S]cystine, the t 1/2 of zinc-thionein was 18h and 19h. Most of the soluble 35S-labelled hepatic proteins had a t 1/2 of 4 days. The t 1/2 of zinc-thionein calculated by using 65Zn was 20h. The close similarity between the calculated and measured t 1/2 values for zinc-thionein suggests that release of Zn2+ from zinc-thionein probably occurs simultaneously with degradation of the protein moiety.
| S-EPMC1164273 | biostudies-other
Project description:The uptake of cadmium by isolated liver cells was linearly related to the cadmium concentration to which the cells were exposed in the medium. Cadmium-treated cells synthesized proteins de novo with the characteristics of cadmium-thionein induced in the liver of cadmium-treated animals. Thionein from liver cells incorporated cadmium and [35S]cysteine, had a Ve/Vo (Sephadex G-50) of 1.8-1.9, and was separated into two subfractions by DEAE-cellulose ion-exchange chromatography. Cycloheximide and actinomycin D when added after a cadmium exposure prevented the synthesis of thionein. However, addition of actinomycin D after synthesis had started only decreased the total amount of thionein synthesized. The concentration of cadmium to which the cells were exposed affected the amount of cadmium-thionein synthesized in 6h. The maximum response occurred when cells were exposed to 0.5 microgram of cadmium/ml; at higher metal concentrations the total amount of cadmium-thionein synthesized declined. The system described in the present paper can be used to study the mode of metal toxicity and the mechanism of cadmium-thionein synthesis.
| S-EPMC1183887 | biostudies-other
Project description:1. On perfusion of livers from fed rats with a semi-synthetic medium containing no added amino acids there is a rapid release of glutamine during the first 15min (15.6+/-0.8mumol/h per g wet wt.; mean+/-s.e.m. of 35 experiments), followed by a low linear rate of production (3.6+/-0.3mumol/h per g wet wt.; mean+/-s.e.m. of three experiments). The rapid initial release can be accounted for as wash-out of preexisting intracellular glutamine. 2. Addition of readily permeating substrates, or substrate combinations, giving rise to intracellular glutamate or ammonia, or both, did not appreciably increase the rate of glutamine production over the endogenous rate. The maximum rate obtained was from proline plus alanine; even then the rate represented less than one-fortieth of the capacity of glutamine synthetase measured in vitro. 3. Complete inhibition of respiration in the perfusions [no erythrocytes in the medium; 1mm-cyanide; N(2)+CO(2) (95:5) in the gas phase] or perfusion with glutamine synthetase inhibitors [l-methionine dl-sulphoximine; dl-(+)-allo-delta-hydroxylysine] abolishes the low linear rate of glutamine synthesis, but not the initial rapid release of glutamine. 4. In livers from 48h-starved rats initial release (0-15min) of glutamine was decreased (10.6+/-1.1mumol/h per g wet wt.; mean+/-s.e.m. of 11 experiments) and the subsequent rate of glutamine production was lower than in livers from fed rats. Again proline plus alanine was the only substrate combination giving an increase significantly above the endogenous rate. 5. The rate of glutamine synthesis de novo by the liver is apparently unrelated to the tissue content of glutamate or ammonia. 6. The blood glutamine concentration is increased by 50% within 1h of elimination of the liver from the circulation of rats in vivo. 7. There is an output of glutamine by the brain under normal conditions; the mean arterio-venous difference for six rats was 0.023mumol/ml. 8. The high potential activity of liver glutamine synthetase appears to be inhibited by some unknown mechanism: the function of the liver under normal conditions is probably the disposal of glutamine produced by extrahepatic tissues.
| S-EPMC1177235 | biostudies-other
Project description:Metal-dependent changes in the properties of metallothionein were investigated in vitro by replacing Zn2+ in zinc-thionein with Cu+ and Cu2+. Metallothionein was separated into isoproteins on a gel-permeation column by elution with alkaline buffer solution, the separation being due to the dissociation of hydroxy groups in the gel material. The two metals in metallothioneins were detected simultaneously by introducing the eluate of the column, which was attached to a high-pressure liquid chromatograph, to two flame atomic-absorption spectrophotometers. Zn2+ in zinc-thionein was replaced with 1.5 and 1 mol. equiv. of Cu+ and Cu2+ respectively. The replacement with Cu2+ accompanied intramolecular oxidation of thiol groups in metallothioneins and the oxidized metallothioneins showed different chromatographic properties from the original ones, probably due to changes in the isoelectric points. The oxidized forms of metallothionein were reducible by mercaptoethanol. Reduction of Cu2+ to Cu+ followed by the replacement of Zn2+ in zinc-thionein with Cu+ occurred in the presence of glutathione.
| S-EPMC1163371 | biostudies-other
Project description:Rational control over the morphology and the functional properties of inorganic nanostructures has been a long-standing goal in the development of bottom-up device fabrication processes. We report that the geometry of hydrothermally grown zinc oxide nanowires can be tuned from platelets to needles, covering more than three orders of magnitude in aspect ratio (~0.1-100). We introduce a classical thermodynamics-based model to explain the underlying growth inhibition mechanism by means of the competitive and face-selective electrostatic adsorption of non-zinc complex ions at alkaline conditions. The performance of these nanowires rivals that of vapour-phase-grown nanostructures, and their low-temperature synthesis (<60 °C) is favourable to the integration and in situ fabrication of complex and polymer-supported devices. We illustrate this capability by fabricating an all-inorganic light-emitting diode in a polymeric microfluidic manifold. Our findings indicate that electrostatic interactions in aqueous crystal growth may be systematically manipulated to synthesize nanostructures and devices with enhanced structural control.
| S-EPMC3572365 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The time course of hepatic zinc-isometallothionein synthesis was studied in the regenerating liver and compared with that produced after the parenteral injection of zinc (6 mg of Zn2+/kg). In the regenerating liver, zinc levels rose rapidly after partial hepatectomy and reached a maximum at approx. 14h before declining to approximately normal levels at 48h post-operation. During this 48h period most of the zinc was incorporated into metallothionein. Purification of the latter into the charge-separable isometallothioneins (i.e. MT1 and MT2) showed that, in the regenerating liver, there was an unequal distribution of zinc between the two isoproteins. Thus at operation the endogenous thionein had an MT2/MT1 ratio of 1; after regeneration this ratio increased, and all times during the time course there was more MT2 than MT1. In contrast, the intraperitoneal injection of zinc produced a biphasic uptake of zinc into the liver with maxima at 10h and 32h. During the first phase of zinc uptake, metallothionein synthesis increased rapidly and, unlike the regenerating liver, the MT2/MT1 ratio of 1 remained constant. Thereafter, this ratio increased in a manner analogous to that exhibited by the regenerating liver. Half-life determinations for thionein disappearance/degradation shows that MT2 and MT1 were degraded with half-lives (t1/2) of 26.18h and 16.44h respectively in the regenerating liver and 14.75h and 9.3h after zinc injection. Thus thionein disappearance/degradation in the regenerating liver was slower than that seen after zinc injection. However, in both situations MT2 was always removed at a slower rate than MT1. Calculation of the rates of thionein synthesis (assuming the above disappearance rates were constant throughout the time course) showed that, in the regenerating liver, the rate of MT2 synthesis was approximately twice that of MT1. This was not the case after zinc injection, where both isometallothioneins were synthesized in equal amounts. These results demonstrate that the rates of synthesis of MT2 and MT1 can be altered according to the metabolic status of the cell and suggest a specific role for MT2 during liver regeneration.
| S-EPMC1153185 | biostudies-other
Project description:1. The effect of injecting nicotinamide on the incorporation of [(14)C]orotate into the hepatic nucleic acids of rats after partial hepatectomy was investigated. 2. At 3h after partial hepatectomy the rapid incorporation of [(14)C]orotate into RNA, and at 20h after partial hepatectomy the incorporation of [(14)C]orotate into both RNA and DNA, were inhibited in a dose-dependent fashion by the previous injection of nicotinamide. 3. The injection of nicotinamide at various times before the injection of [(14)C]orotate at 20h after partial hepatectomy revealed an inhibition of the incorporation of orotate into RNA and DNA which was non-linear with respect to the duration of nicotinamide pretreatment. 4. The induction of a hepatic ATP depletion by ethionine demonstrated that the synthesis of hepatic NAD and NADP in partially hepatectomized rats was more susceptible to an ATP deficiency than in control rats. 5. The total hepatic activity of ribose phosphate pyrophosphokinase (EC 2.7.6.1) was assayed at various times after partial hepatectomy and found to be only marginally greater than the maximum rate of hepatic NAD synthesis induced in vivo by nicotinamide injection between 12 and 24h after partial hepatectomy. 6. It is suggested that a competition exists between NAD synthesis and purine and pyrimidine nucleotide synthesis for available ATP and particularly 5-phosphoribosyl 1-pyrophosphate. In regenerating liver the competition is normally in favour of the synthesis of nucleic acid precursors, at the expense of NAD synthesis. This situation may be reversed by the injection of nicotinamide with a subsequent inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis.
| S-EPMC1173907 | biostudies-other
Project description:Excessive iron accumulation in the liver, which accompanies certain genetic or metabolic diseases, impairs bile acids (BA) synthesis, but the influence of iron on the complex process of BA homeostasis is unknown. Thus, we evaluated the effect of iron overload (IO) on BA turnover in rats. Compared with control rats, IO (8 intraperitoneal doses of 100 mg/kg every other day) significantly decreased bile flow as a consequence of decreased biliary BA secretion. This decrease was associated with reduced expression of Cyp7a1, the rate limiting enzyme in the conversion of cholesterol to BA, and decreased expression of Bsep, the transporter responsible for BA efflux into bile. However, IO did not change net BA content in faeces in response to increased intestinal conversion of BA into hyodeoxycholic acid. In addition, IO increased plasma cholesterol concentrations, which corresponded with reduced Cyp7a1 expression and increased expression of Hmgcr, the rate-limiting enzyme in de novo cholesterol synthesis. In summary, this study describes the mechanisms impairing synthesis, biliary secretion and intestinal processing of BA during IO. Altered elimination pathways for BA and cholesterol may interfere with the pathophysiology of liver damage accompanying liver diseases with excessive iron deposition.
| S-EPMC6611795 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIschaemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major obstacle during liver transplantation and resection surgeries for cancer, with a need for effective and safe drugs to reduce IRI. Zinc preconditioning has been shown to protect against liver IRI in a partial (70%) ischaemia model. However, its efficacy against a clinically relevant Pringle manoeuvre that results in global liver ischaemia (100%) is unknown.AimsThe aim of this study was to test the efficacy of zinc preconditioning in a rat model of global liver ischaemia.MethodsRats were preconditioned via subcutaneous injection of 10 mg/kg of ZnCl2, 24 h and 4 h before ischaemia. Total liver ischaemia (100%) was induced by placing a clamp across the portal triad for 30 min. Liver injury was assessed by serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) levels in blood taken before ischaemia (baseline) and at 1, 2, 4, 24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 hours after ischaemia. Animals were culled after 7 days, and the harvested livers were histologically analysed.ResultsOn a two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance, there was a statistically significant (p = 0.025) difference in the mean ALT levels between saline- and ZnCl2-treated groups. Specifically at 24 h after ischaemia, the ALT (341 ± 99 U/L) and AST (606 ± 78 U/L) in the zinc-treated group were significantly less than the ALT (2863 ± 828 U/L) and AST (3591 ± 948 U/L) values in the saline-treated group. Zinc significantly reduced neutrophil infiltration and necrosis compared with the saline control.ConclusionZinc preconditioning reduces the overall hepatocellular damage from IRI. These results lay the foundation to assess the benefit of zinc preconditioning for clinical applications.
| S-EPMC7212296 | biostudies-literature